You may of noticed we have updated the blog templates, there is a new one in progress, that will work better on mobile devices, in the mean time this is a stop gap look/feel
Sold the e36 Shell
Ok, as most people know now, on the day of the Rockingham race in 2012 we said good bye to the e36 shell, as its gone off to live as a m3 3.0 car. Our new project car is a e46 shell (just the shell) Its not been simple, we purchased a shell to use, but then noticed that the boot floor (a common issue on the e46) was too far gone for ourselves to repair, and that would take too much extra funds to get a bodyshop to replace the boot floor and subframe hanging area. So we got another shell 😉 by coincidence they are both the same colour, though this will not be the final car colour, that at present is probably going to be white. Currently we are stripping out the sound deadening from the shell, and then have to get it booked into the cage fabricators to get a cage fitted. The only part of the cage thats definitely needed is the read diff pickups, due to weakness in the e46 floors, all 4 diff mounts will be connected to the cage. Engine and drive train is undecided at present, if we still have the 328 engine that may be what gets used, but there is an idea to use a s54, s62 or a s65 engine, but thats extra expense and possibly complications in the future.
Oulton park race report rounds 11 and 12
Qualifying was not going that well, we thought there was enough fuel in, but when we took the first corner the light started to come on indicating low fuel, so we just counted about 5 laps and came in, this put us two places behind the other class C car, and over 1 second behind on lap times.
Race 1 started and there was some rubbing of class D cars, this delayed progress (we did not have that good a start anyhow) but also allowed the car to stay out of the incidents, going into the hairpin for the first time there was another couple of incidents, and we managed to avoid them, and got a very good exit, which managed to propel the car to first in class before kinckerbrook, which is where we stayed for the rest of the race. With the second class C car 11 seconds behind.
Race 2 we were in front of the other class C car, but still alongside on the grid, we did not get a good start again, and a couple of D cars got in front again, by the 2nd lap we had got past them, and also managed to get past the other class C car, to be first in class again, bad luck struck the other car in class, and they had to retire due to engine issues.
The strangest thing to happen over the weekend was the fastest laps recorded for a class C car that weekend was our car, but the actual lap times for the first and second race were identical down to the 1/1000 of a second, don’t think that could ever happen.
See the video below
Silverstone report for rounds 9 and 10.
This years outing at Silverstone was better than last years, where we went into the wall after a couple of laps with the newly wrapped car at its first outing.
We had a testing session booked on the saturday to try out some new wheels, and a couple of other mods, and from that we started off at a 1:13 lap time and brought it down to about a 1:11.
For qualifying we managed to out qualify all the class D cars with a time of 1:11.6 but at the start of the race it did not go so well as we got mugged by about 6 class D cars around corpse corner, so we had a battle on our hands to get back up to the position of being in front of all the class D cars, this is something that we did manage to do, and in the process set the fastest lap time for a class C car of the weekend 1:11.2.
The next race was not so good as our fastest lap time was 1:11.9, and on about lap 3 we got tagged by a class D car, the other car spun, but we managed to stay on track, but two class D cars finished in front of our car by about 10 seconds, so they were about a second a lap quicker.
Next race is at Oulton Park on the 14th July.
Brands hatch rounds 7 and 8.
This weekends racing went better than we could of hoped from, from a very poor qualifying to a interesting race, where I thought I was chasing down the other class C car, but found out later that he only did one lap then retired.
The second race was a good one, as I had the other class C car 6 places behind me, but with some of them being class A, and B cars they would not stay behind for long, so I had a plan to overtake a couple more class D cars in front of me and hopefully keep ahead of the other class C car, only issue was I did not know that the other class C car had yet again retired.
So out of the weekend we got 2 class wins, with 2 fastest laps for class C.
The next rounds (9 and 10) are at Silverstone on the 10th of June.
Croft rounds 5 and 6
Well croft lived up to its reputation for me, with the first race having a DNF, due to impact from car 71d, on the first lap whilst going around the hairpin, then the second race being under monsoon conditions, and having no traction, and not managing to get heat into the tyres, it was very slippy out there.
Hopefully the next race at Brands hatch will be better.
Donington race report for round 1 and 2
So the first racing of the season was to happen live on Motors TV from donignton park. With the current fuel crisis thats affecting large parts of the UK where the people can not think for themselves and are causing shortages of fuel country wide, it seams strange going racing, and just using 40 litres for fun, but it was a fun weekend, and I would not change it, the next question is should we stockpile fuel to ensure we can attend the next round at Croft at the end of april.
So the aims for the weekend were simple, to keep with the other class C competitors, to do a 1:25 lap, and third, hopefully stay ahead of the class D drivers.
The qualifying went well, the car had new rubber on it, so the first few laps were a little interesting, until the tyres had warmed and started to work, when they did we went around learning the circuit and looking where any time could be made, and what gears should be selected for corners. I forgot to turn on the video recorder for this session, and its a pity as there was a couple of good parts where other cars were involved.
So we managed to qualify second in class, that was a shock first, the other shock was we were in front of all the class D cars, and had managed to break into the 1:25 lap times. So how would the race go, it would be nice to finish in the same position that we qualified in, but we had another class C car behind, and also a class B car.
So race one was the first time that a rolling start had been experienced it was an interesting start, and I managed to keep up with the B car in front, and also managed to keep the others behind, then out of old hairpin the leading class C car spun, so effectively promoting us to class leaders for C 🙂 alas going by an accident on the start finish straight near the end of the race, the class C driver that spun managed to re-take the lead, but a second in class was a good result, and with a best lap time of just below 1:24 we had actually broken into the 1:23 time bracket.
So on to the second round, I was in the same place on row 11 but on the opposite line on the track, I did not get as good a start as the first race, and slipped down into 3rd in class, but we were keeping together, behind a class B car, about halfway through the race, the car that was second in class slowed dramatically down the crainer curves, that I was able to pass it easily on the way up from old hairpin, it looks like that was the last lap that car would partake in as it had blown a oil pipe off, but this also left oil around the circuit and down on the racing line towards the chicaine this did cause me to change the position on the track when entering the last corners of the lap, as it was a little too slippy for me on the racing line. This was hurting my lap times, and I only saw a high 1:24 on that race, but still below my aim time of 1:25
Also as a note, whilst we do have race 1 and race 2 on video the picture is not that good, as the camera was mounted slightly too high.
Dates confirmed by the BMWRDC
The dates are now official, we have 9 weekends of racing, with visits to all the usual circuits.
Confirmed dates now for the 2012 season
So we just received an email from the BARC about the regulations, and dates for the 2012 Kumho BMW championship.
They have changed a little from the provisional dates, and the good news is we are now also racing at Oulton Park on the 14th of July.
Dates (each venue has a double header, so 18 rounds in total for 2012.)
31st March Donington Park
3rd/4th April Snetterton
28th/29th April Croft
12th/13th May Brands hatch
10th June Silverstone
14th July Oulton Park
4th/5th August Pembrey
1st/2nd September Rockingham
14th October Thruxton.
Only 8 more weeks till the opening round.
So it looks like they pulled Croft forward, to fit in the Oulton park visit, lets just hope its the full circuit now.
Timetable released for Donington park for the 31st of March, rounds 1 and 2 of 2012
The first revision of the timetable for Donington park has been recently released, this timetable gives the BMW’s two races both in the afternoon, and the qualifying session at 9am.
All times are subject to change but a summary at present is
9am Qualifying
1pm Round 1 of the 2012 BMWRDC
3.30pm Round 2 of the 2012 BMWRDC